Cricket: David Warner’s Big Bash signing could be the kickstart the competition needs

David Warner’s addition to the Big Bash is already creating the buzz cricket officials hoped for.

David Warner has created plenty of excitement by signing with the Sydney Thunder. Picture: Ian Bird/CNSW

David Warner’s new Sydney Thunder teammates are already buzzing at the prospect of the batting star joining them for the Big Bash fully confident his commitment will extend beyond just showing up for games.

The veteran Australian opener declared it was “important to give back for the future of our game” as he signed a landmark two-year contract. He should be available for games at the back end of this season.

Young gun Ollie Davies has experienced playing one-day cricket with Warner for NSW and said he was all in when he made those fleeting state appearances and couldn’t wait to link up with him again in the Big Bash.

“During the 2021 pandemic sort of pre-season, I trained with him a fair bit, so I got to know him well then and then played, I think, three March Cup games together,” Davies said on Monday.

“It’s been hard. I haven’t sort of seen him for probably close to a year now, so I haven’t spoken to him for a while, but I’m hoping that when he comes back in I’ll be able to hopefully build a relationship there and learn a lot off him.

“I think it is from January onwards that he’ll be able to play for us. It’s really exciting. We only just found out the news. There was talk previously that he might be coming around, but to get locked in is pretty exciting. He’s a class player and hopefully I get to learn off him a lot and, better than that, play with him.”

Ollie Davies can’t wait to play with David Warner. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Davies said he expected Warner would do more than just turn up to games despite a hectic international summer of Test cricket, which will make him unavailable for most of this year’s tournament.

“I know that he definitely did that when he was playing for the (NSW) Blues and the Marsh Cup,” he said.

“And in comparison to that, I think the Big Bash is on a bit of a higher profile at the moment than the Marsh Cup, so I’m hoping that that will be the case because he showed up for all the Blues stuff.

“I’m just really excited to have heard the news over the last couple of days and then to get it all locked in. It’s pretty exciting.”

Warner’s Australian Test teammate, Alex Carey, who expressed his ongoing commitment to the Big Bash with the Adelaide Strikers despite his increased international appearances, said it was “huge” to have the opener in the competition.

“At the back end of a tough couple of years, it‘s really exciting. Obviously, David Warner’s huge for the comp,” he said.

Warner has also expressed his desire to be a leader for Thunder’s young stars, including Davies, with team officials asking Cricket Australia officials for urgent clarification over the future of his captaincy ban.